Barcoo rot

English

Etymology

A reference to the Barcoo river in Queensland.

Noun

Barcoo rot (uncountable)

  1. (Australia, informal) An ulcerous skin condition, apparently endemic to tropical or desert climates.
    • 1917, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Journal of tropical Medicine And Hygiene, Volumes 20-21, page 228,
      The infection does not spread from one to another among the troops, and barcoo rot affects men living in solitude.
    • 1917, letter, British Medical Journal‎, volume 1917, page 468:
      Colonel CJ Martin gives some observations on " barcoo rot." This is a very loosely applied term. The original "barcoo rot," as experienced by the older bushmen, was scurvy pure and simple.
    • 2009, Mike Keenan, The Shadows of Horses‎, page 225:
      Add Barcoo rot to the torment and it was little wonder some boys came down with fever. Barcoo rot is a dreaded infection in the Barcoo and Thomson watersheds and it spreads voraciously in the humid summer months.

Synonyms
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